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UK Shadowy Army Unit Spied on Covid Critics

Posted on January 29, 2023January 29, 2023 by frischreport
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The UK’s “information warfare” brigade secretly monitored British citizens who expressed criticism of the government’s Covid lockdown policies, according to a report by The Mail on Sunday. The shadowy army unit compiled dossiers on public figures such as former minister David Davis, who questioned the death toll predictions, as well as journalists Peter Hitchens and Toby Young, who raised doubts about the official pandemic response. The information was then shared with No. 10.

The operation was carried out by government cells such as the Counter Disinformation Unit, based in the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, and the Rapid Response Unit in the Cabinet Office. The most secretive of these groups is the MoD’s 77th Brigade, which was created to use “non-lethal engagement and legitimate non-military levers” to influence the behavior of adversaries. However, a whistleblower who worked for the brigade during the lockdowns claims that the unit strayed far beyond its remit of targeting foreign powers and also monitored British citizens’ social media accounts, an activity that the Ministry of Defence repeatedly denied doing in public.

The papers obtained by the civil liberties group Big Brother Watch showed that the outfits were tasked with countering “disinformation” and “harmful narratives,” with civil servants and artificial intelligence scraping social media for keywords of interest. The information was then used to orchestrate government responses to criticisms of lockdown policies and also allowed ministers to push social media platforms to remove posts and promote government-approved lines.

Former Cabinet Minister David Davis, a member of the Privy Council, said: ‘It’s outrageous that people questioning the Government’s policies were subject to covert surveillance’

The Army whistleblower claimed that the government was more interested in protecting the success of their policies than uncovering any potential foreign interference and expressed regret for being a part of it. The source also suggested that the government’s focus on monitoring critics may have caused them to miss genuine pro-lockdown campaigns led by China.

Silkie Carlo, of Big Brother Watch, described the situation as an “alarming case of mission creep,” where public money and military power were misused to monitor journalists, academics, campaigners, and MPs who criticized the government, particularly during the pandemic. Carlo argued that the Counter Disinformation Unit should be suspended immediately and subject to a full investigation, as the government’s truth units are secretive and harmful to democracy.

A Downing Street source claimed that the units have scaled back their work significantly since the end of the lockdowns. However, former Cabinet minister David Davis, a member of the Privy Council, described the covert surveillance of citizens as “outrageous” and questioned the waste of public money. Journalist Peter Hitchens also raised concerns about whether he was “shadow-banned” due to his criticisms and called for a full and powerful investigation into the matter.

The revelation of the UK’s information warfare brigade’s secret monitoring of citizens raises serious questions about the government’s respect for civil liberties and the abuse of military power and public funds. The need for transparency and accountability in these units is essential to protect the rights and freedoms of citizens and safeguard the democratic foundations of the nation.

This snooping was wrong, it hangs over my proud Army career like a black cloud
By Anonymous (Ex-77th brigade officer)

I was serving in the British Army in March 2020 when I was seconded to 77th Brigade, on the basis I would be helping root out foreign state misinformation on social media.

We were told what was legally allowed – such as ‘scraping’ online platforms for keywords – and what was illegal. This included repeatedly looking at a named UK individual’s account without authorisation, although some people would do that from their own accounts after their shift.

We would take screenshots of tweets from people expressing dissatisfaction with the UK Government’s action against Covid. The project leader would then gather these screenshots and send them to the Cabinet Office. Feedback from the Cabinet Office would direct us over what to look for the next day.

To skirt the legal difficulties of a military unit monitoring domestic dissent, the view was that unless a profile explicitly stated their real name and nationality they could be a foreign agent and were fair game. But it is quite obvious that our activities resulted in the monitoring of the UK population… the social media posts of ordinary, scared people. These posts did not contain information that was untrue or co-ordinated – it was simply fear.

We learned from the feedback that the Government were very keen on hearing what the public thought of their Covid response.

I entered this role believing I would be uncovering foreign information warfare. Instead, I found the banner of disinformation was a guise under which the British military was being deployed to monitor and flag our own concerned citizens. There may have actually been social media campaigns from China to promote lockdown policies but because we were directed to monitor sentiment towards the success of lockdown, we would have completely missed them. I had the impression the Government were more interested in protecting the success of their policies than uncovering foreign interference, and I regret that I was a part of it.

Recently, I looked over my medals and thought of all I have done in my career – things I am proud of, in the defence of the people of this country – except my work on ‘disinformation’ in 77, which hangs over my career like a black cloud.

It was about domestic perception, not national security. Frankly, the work I was doing should never have happened. This domestic monitoring of citizens seemed not to be driven by a desire to address the public’s concerns, but to identify levers for compliance with controversial Government policies.
I do not doubt that the activities I participated in were conceived for good reasons, but they were undemocratic, wrong, and should not be allowed to happen again.

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